Participating Member
Re: Bus System
MAPS 4 maybe? How many modern CNG powered buses do we need (in addition to the CNG buses already in service) to get our system up to an acceptable standard of service, and be 100% alternative fuel?
Culver Citybus Takes Delivery of the First Natural Gas Xcelsior Transit Buses - Top News - Green Fleet - Top News - Government Fleet
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Our bus routes and system is a joke
We have a street grid system why not use it to make bus routes. I walk 5 miles to make a 7 mile trip lol.
By putting a grid system in place it would be easier to get to where you need to go. Buses either travel north and south or east and west then you would not need to transfer buses 4 times ad wait in the cold a total of 2 hours to get where you you need to go.
What is the citys justification for the current system like I said its a cruel joke by planners to.watch bus.riders suffer
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
From a long time ago...I had friends at OU and friends at OCU. We rode the bus from Norman up to OKC on a Friday to hang out, we didn't realize that the next bus back to Norman wasn't until Monday. I believe this is still the case. What a joke!
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
I would think a grid system which would be easier to use would create more ridership thus bringing in more revenue I could see ridership increasing 25 to 50% if not more by simplifying the routes and having more of the city served. Of course the increase in ridership would be slow to materialize but it would happen
As it stands now you change buses 3 or 4 times on a one way trip and end up waiting an hour or more total for buses to show up I would not mind waiting say 20 min for a bus if I only had to take 2 buses to my destination. They could even stop every half mile where there are businesses and apartments between the atrial intersections. At least then one could do their shopping commutes to work or doctors appointments
And if Okc was to serve only residential areas of Bethany warr acres they could effectively be transporting tax dollars out of Bethany warr acres to Okc thus adding another revenue stream.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
City has nearly completed installation of real time tracking and update system in all city buses. This is a very good step forward.
COTPA Director gave extensive brief at today's City Council meeting. They are making a concerted effort to improve the bus shelters and move away from a bench stuck on the side of the road and exposed to the elements. They will improve disabled access, information available, and shelter.
They have proposed a city ordnance that will finally include the transit director in decisions about bus stop location and design (finally - why was he not involved from the beginning? Why was PW Director the sole decision maker?) However the ordnance still gives PW ultimate decision authority. The transit director has to ask PW for permission to install new shelters - and if PW denies the request, the transit director has to appeal to city council. That doesn't make sense - PW should take a look at how a new shelter affects the existing sidewalk, etc - but they should not have veto power over the transit director. Way too much power in one or two people's hands in our present city staff.
It will grandfather the current bus benches unfortunately - hopefully the ordnance will require improvements in the existing bench shelter and safety as a minimum.
Overall it sounds very promising. Let your council rep know the city as a whole supports improving our bus system.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Skip Kelly made a great point about the location of some of the privately owned bus benches. The specific one he mentioned on 36th is in a dangerous location. It doesn't make any sense at that location. If someone were to be injured at that Metro Transit bus stop, the city could be open to significant liability I think. Skip's point about the need to better evaluate the location of the private bus benches should be taken seriously.
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Re: Bus System
Is that when you'll add to your blog, again? Are you striking until then?Originally Posted by sidburgess
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
I am going to get a photo of the stop Skip spoke about and post it here. It is ridiculous that anyone think it is a good idea and is clearly unsafe for use.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Hey I was at Walmart last night... they had 8lb sledgehammers, 2 for $10.Don't get me started. Most of these benches are not serving any purpose for transit. They are simply billboards.
See exhibit A:
This is right across the street from our Civic Center. Every time I see this I about blow a gasket. If I were in any leadership position at COTPA, the moment I saw this I would have demanded it be removed and would have wrote a nastygram to Tyler Advertising. I recognize that this area was modified for Project 180 but if Tyler wants to get the privilege of putting up billboards (see bus bench), then they had better police them up -- especially downtown.
As long as that bench sits there in broad daylight, obviously a living relic of our commitment to transit, even in our urban core, we will have a glaring reminder of how spineless our leadership is in solving transit issues.
Oh, and I am keeping track of how long it takes to fix this "bench".
/buzzkillrant
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Is it just sitting there or actually in the ground?
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
I would rather not tie ourselves even more to the current route system, it is going to be hard enough to ever change to something more functional, let alone if we were to spend the money on shelters at the current stops.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
This is the bus bench Councilman Kelly spoke about on Tuesday.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
It is one thing not to have a sidewalk but could we at least keeping trees from growing in a space that could allow people to walk not in the street. Though if few enough people are walking to it to keep trees from growing maybe it should no longer be a stop.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
There are a great many things that bother me in this city. But chief among them is the lack of shelters or even benches. And yes, I too fret about building such infrastructure because I think the routes need to be straightened out and the system completely redesigned.
But if you put these sentiments about the routes aside, if we are going to build bus shelters, we need to think differently about what we are buying and how they are designed. I mean... Oklahoma weather anyone? It would seem to me that we need a shelter design or "kit of parts" designed specifically for our extreme weather.
Perhaps a tornado shelter under each. lol
But seriously... a design that deals with straight line winds, the common north wind, heat mitigation. The list goes on and on. Quite frankly, I think landscaping and trees, while they require maintenance, should be used as a environmental calming device as part of the shelter package.
If we have express buses on NW Expressway, I think we should go as far a sto design those shelters to be higher capacity and even air conditioned. Not unlike the old ATM mini buildings you used to have to walk into. Or Bogota Spain tube type bus structures. Either way, I think NW Expressway epotomizes a harsh Oklahoma environment in the worst ways.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
In other cities I've lived in, bus stops were small constructs that included at least a shelter from rain, and often a shelter from wind. It wan't abnormal to include advertising on the walls, but always included some information on what line(s) that bus stop served and when you could expect the next bus. This shelter (in particular) is abhorrent and does nothing except allow Tyler Advertising to put up an ad. I always thought the ads (at other city's bus shelters) were for the bus passengers waiting there, but Tyler seems to think it's all about advertising to the cars. THAT's what's wrong with this picture: It allows (or demonstrates that) the (contracted, I assume?) advertising company to define the "shelter".
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Probably unreasonable for OKC in terms of cost per use. But I am a huge advocate of doing things right the first time.
Think if we had modern bus shelters with solar panels that illuminated the shelter. Also per OK climate, fully to mostly enclosed shelters would be most efficient in persuading people to use the bus if they have a shelter that keeps them out of the insane wind here.
An example of a solar powered shelter (granted this one is hideous):
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
My first reaction to a previous comment about business owners not wanting a bus stop in front of their place of business was an incredulous reaction to what I envisioned a bus stop to be. Even though a bus stop in front of your place of business feasibly could bring more customers in your door, I can see, now, why a business owner might object to one of these benches sitting out front.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
The ill conceived and much maligned rubber tire trolleys are gone!
Downtown Discovery | METRO Transit Providing Central Oklahoma Transportation & Bus Service Options
http://www.gometro.org/Websites/gome...ochure_web.pdf
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Did they replace the trolley with a normal bus? It is the same route.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Has there been any sort of study on what a system the city could provide with the existing bus fleet where the average service time was no more than fifteen minutes during at least the higher traffic parts of the day?
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
I will miss the wheeled trolly cars. Didn't find them ugly or uncomfortable the times I have ridden.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Modern busses are replacing the goofy (my opinion of course) trolleys. I characterize them as a failure mainly because they were the "replacement" for a proposed streetcar system.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
I am sure there may be one, but I haven't seen it. Check the gometro.org site or maybe ACOG.
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Does anyone know how many buses and at what capacity each are, in the OKC METRO fleet?
Participating Member
Re: Bus System
Okay, I'm working on a little project of my own. Just curious if we know what type, seating capacity, and number of buses we have.
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